A study of the rhombohedral distortion of the magnetostrictive samarium-iron compounds with addition of molybdenum or vanadium

Abstract

The mechanical hardness and magnetostriction of annealed pseudo-binary compounds, based on the binary Laves phase, SmFe2 compound with additions of small percentage of Cu, Ni, V or Mo, have been studied. It is found that the compounds containing Mo have optimum hardness and values of magnetostriction. The pseudo-binary compounds SmFe2−xMox and SmFe2−xVx (x = 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) have been studied by using X-ray counter diffractometer. Owing to the broadening and the splitting of line profiles at higher Bragg angles, a precision determination of lattice parameters becomes difficult. From the data the angles of rhombohedral cells and the relative change in lattice spacings of cubic (400) reflections in these compounds have been calculated.